Dry Sowing in The Mid North – Season 2024 and learnings from the lack of rainfall
8 October
The last season of 2024 has certainly tested and challenged cropping farmers in many ways, largely as a result of limited rainfall and the subsequent flow on effect of events that follows low (or no) rainfall cropping years. Soil management is a...[Read More]
The Importance of Nutrient Content of Seed
30 October
As Harvest ’15 is now well underway and many growers have their minds set on planting next year we all start looking at strategies for improving crop performance next year. One strategy is retaining seed from harvest this year, with focus is...[Read More]
Absolutely Breathtaking Photography by Jim Richardson
30 May
We have stumbled across a photographer who seems to really appreciate the beauty of the most complex material in the world. Jim Richardson is a photographer for the magazine 'National Geographic'. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. What...[Read More]
This week on Soil News – Nutrition
23 April
This week we will be explaining the different types of nutrition in a practical sense. Nutrition is not only essential for a plants metabolic processes, but also for its health; the right nutrition can give the plant the right defines to fight...[Read More]
Catalysts
23 November
Image credit: lockitup.com Sometimes when people explain what trace elements are doing in a plant, we can start to think we need a PhD in Chemistry and Physics. This is certainly not the case. The basic concept behind trace elements is quite...[Read More]
Electrolytes
23 October
Electrolytes! No you don't need to be filling your boom sprays with the latest and greatest sports drink, you simply need to look at the concentrations and ratios of Sodium, Calcium, K, & Mg in your soil. Electrolytes are able to carry an...[Read More]
Building Materials
23 November
A plant can be thought of as a house. A house running on solar power. To build the house, you require several nutrients in large proportions, some a lot more than others; Carbon, Hydrogen & Oxygen: =carbohydrate...[Read More]
Incorporating Wetting and Non-wetting Sands
16 October
These photos came from a farm we visited who had delved his non wetting sand, aiming to incorporate the wetting sand beneath. The results are visually obvious. It is important to consider the pros and cons of delving, as it may take away the ability...[Read More]
So Little is So Much in Furrow
16 October
These photos are a great example of how so little can do much, particularly in furrow. We performed a pH test on the different layers in the soil pit, which gave neutral and alkaline results, we then performed a 'fizz' test on the soil using...[Read More]
Water Channeling
16 May
The GRDC recently released a report on managing water repellent soil with different cultivation strategies. The image above shows Variation in soil water movement (blue dye) between cultivated (b and d) and no-till (a and c) non-wetting soil. The...[Read More]
Soil Expedition to Great Gilgandra Ground
9 July
As the season starts to edge to a close, made quicker by the 4 days of above 35 degrees C, it’s still a great opportunity to get down some holes and see what the crops have been able to draw on for the season. This week took us on a Soil...[Read More]